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SONGS 



OF THE 



PRIMA DONNA 



BY 



IRA I. STERNER 

Computer for the Royal Astronomical Society of England : 

Author of two Mathematical Dissertations, and 

A Souvenir Essay on Seeming and Being. 









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Copyright, 1903, 

BY 

Ira I. Sterner. 



PRESS OF 

The New Era Printing Company, 
Lancaster, Pa. 



TO EVERY PRIMA DONNA: 

Thou singest from thy heart through many hearts 
toward the Heart of the sky. Thou singest sweetly 
and truly, as a prima donna can and should. If thou 
knowest thyself, thou knowest what power inspires 
thee to sing. The same power inspires me to write 
thy feelings in words of song. 

. Then sing thy feelings in my words^ with all the 
majestic^ spontaneous melody that thy soul can teach 
thy voice. The world will hear thee, and will call thee 
primissima donna; but thou shalt soar above the 
applause of the world. 

" Sine sanctitate^ nem,o Dominum videbity 



SONGS OF THE PRIMA DONNA. 



Music .... 










I 


The Genius of a Lyrist . 










2 


An Allegory of Experience 










3 


Tua Guida Beatrice 










. 6 


Necessary Discontent . 










7 


Transcendent Charity . 










9 


Amicitia Aeterna . 










ID 


A Song of Friendship . 










II 


Matri Sanctae Moriturae 










15 


An Orphan's Renunciation . 










16 


A Song of the Dead 










• 17 


The Wave of Time 










. 19 


Forethoughts of Paradise 










. 20 


Ad Sororem Animi Mei 










• 23 


Silence .... 










. 24 



MUSIC. 

Great music is a call from Heaven to men, 
An invitation to eternal things; 
It calls the transient wanderer back again 
To hear what joyful songs each seraph sings : 

So Mozart left his labors willingly, 
To join the mighty chorus of the dead; 
So friendless Beethoven knew Deity, 
And wrote his praises as the Master said. 

What flights in music shall we realize! 
Now only preludes do we mortals know: 
Small streams in human wonder-plains arise. 
And into those majestic rivers flow: 

Our phantasy is taught in heavenly strains, 
To charm us to the Home of great refrains. 



THE GENIUS OF A LYRIST. 

Ambrosial food of pictured sympathies 
Was gently melted on a lyrist's lip, — 
That all his words in sensuousness could dip 
To sing delicious, beauteous melodies: 

So was he bless'd with lovely qualities; 
Olympic gods no sweeter nectar sip. 
Nor Eros joining hearts on Hymen's trip, 
Than he, array'd 'neath floral canopies. 

So e'er his songs were fill'd with fairest things 
That never can be moved by Fortune's gust: 
All building-stones must moulder; Ruin flings 

All cherish'd vanities on heaps of rust; 
But songs of Beauty still endure when kings 
And palaces have crumbled into dust. 



AN ALLEGORY OF EXPERIENCE. 



I 



Some years ago began a human dream 
Of waking life, that floated o'er the stream 
Of time, — from little rivulets and springs, 
And youthful scenes of fascinating things. 

The dream progressed upon a wider brook 
Within a neighborhood of cheery look; 
And life proceeded happily among 
The beams of beauty and the chords of song. 

Then visions of each lovely day gone by. 
Predicted that still fairer days were nigh; 
And while the merry birds were singing lays. 
The dream was sweeten'd by the notes of praise. 

The brook expanded to a river wide. 
And all the scenes and sounds were magnified; 
The breeze was peaceful as the gentlest gale; 
The stream flow'd smoothly through a blooming vale. 

3 



2. 

'Twas torrid summer, and the solar heat 
Began to leave the landscape parch'd and dry; 
Erelong amassing vapors like a fleet, 
Were sailing swiftly through the brilliant sky. 

The darkening clouds grew hostile in their flight 
And threaten'd gravest ruin in the gloom : 
The lightning-flashes dazed the strongest sight, 
And thunder echo'd more than cannon's boom. 

Then copious showers swelPd the stream of life 
To waters rushing on with might and main. 
Invading quiet dales with fearful strife 
And devastating all the beauteous plain; 

Accumulating billows on the way. 
And sweeping forth the mass of torn debris. 
And lashing cumbrous waves in foaming fray. 
The mighty torrent swept into the sea. 



3- 
The flaming sun dispelPd th' impending gloom 
And lighted up the scenes of threaten'd doom: 
The sky was all resplendent with the rays, 
Chromatic like the rainbow's fairest phase. 

Behold! a gentle stream was flowing still 
Serenely onward like a pretty rill; 
Then mingled with the murmur of the trees, 
There was a music in the swaying breeze: 
The air was filPd with harmonies of song 
That urged my weary life to move along. 

I look'd above the stream with eager stare, 
And saw celestial swans ascending there: 
The swans were singing as they soar'd above, 
And filPd the sky with symphonies of love; 
Beholding them, my soul enlarged with glee. 
Because they sang from heaven, O follow me ! 



TUA GUIDA BEATRICE. 

Thy guide e'er beams with heavenl}' radiance, 
And her dear heart is gloriously pure; 
Behold her royal gracefulness advance : 
For only she thy misery can cure. 

Angelic dignity in human frame, 
She bids thee to perfect thy mortal life : 
For her dear sake thou leavest love of fame, 
To overcome all sin with hallow'd strife. 

Her words divine, in tones so beautiful, 
Enchant thy soul with visions of the skies; 
Her voice declares all worldly honors null. 
And bids thee to immortal regions rise. 

To me her sacred love and wisdom show, 
That I may build an Eden here below. 



NECESSARY DISCONTENT. 

Hail, thou Discontentment vast! 
Urge thou on the striving soul 
From the halfness of the past 
Toward some majestic whole. 

Not by an easy life, 

Nor by a painless strife, 
Can we succeed to attain the divine; 

Not heedless slavery 

Nor careless liberty, 
Fit us to build an acceptable shrine. 

Many a seeming good 

Is but a charming hood. 
Luring the ignorant on to their doom: 

Only the truly wise 

Out of their errors rise 
Ere all the light be obscured by the gloom. 



Wake from your miseries; 

Rouse all your energies; 
Rise from the grave of a satisfied soul : 

No transient happiness, 

Deck'd with a gorgeous dress, 
Can e'er retrieve final loss of life's Goal. 

Far from the trackless waste, 

On to the sure way haste: 
Haste ere the labyrinth close round th}- course; 

Toward the holy place 

Ever direct thy race. 
Till all thy soul be engaged to thy Source. 

Up then to higher home 

Where souls no longer roam. 
Joyfully soar thou above all distress : 

Upward for evermore 

To Him whom gods adore; 
Seek thou the Infinite for happiness. 



TRANSCENDENT CHARITY. 

Ye incarnations of the thoughts benign, 
Are dearer far than mortal tongues can tell : 
No human soul within a finite shell, 
Can speak th' infinity of Love divine. 

The highest human love is but a sign 
Of higher Love where all immortals dwell; 
So let the harmony of life now swell 
In worthy branches of th' eternal Vine. 

Now in our charity may life arise 
From gentleness to ever kinder deeds, 
And may the sacredness of friendly ties 

Urge us to give our best to human needs; 

In triumphs of Good Will let us be wise, 

That we may follow where the Conqueror leads. 



AMICITIA AETERNA. 

We should acquire the sympathies of soul 
Superior to circumstance and time: 
More deep than life and death, in tuneful rhyme 
Let minds accord, whatever seasons roll. 

Howe'er remote may be our highest goal. 
Rejoice with me: the bells of earth can chime 
Sweet echoes of the harmonies sublime. 
That come to us from Heaven's most charming knoll, 

Let energies divine our souls e'er blend 

In brotherhood more close than clasping glove; 

Let common hope of Home our courses bend 

Together toward Paradise above; 

With joy serene we then shall greet each friend: 

I love thee with an everlasting Love. 



lO 



A SONG OF FRIENDSHIP. 

Befriend all those who need a friend, 
And fear not what may be the cost; 
For while you fear your aid to lend, 
How many needy lives are lost! 

Build self-denying charity 

Within your motives and your creeds. 

Until a kind fraternity 

Is wrought into your thoughts and deeds. 

If hatred war against your soul 
To fill you with malevolence. 
Then let your strongest chariots roll, 
Well arm'd with true benevolence: 

E'er strive against misanthropy. 
With all the power of heroes strong; 
For Love must win the victory 
O'er all the hosts of hate and wrong. 

II 



Ye hearts, beat time to measured rhyme, 
And urge your vital hope to climb: 
That ye may well perform your part, 
Throb upward to the highest Heart: 

E'en though these hearts of living clay 
Must cease their throbbings, and deca}', — 
Rise upward, deathless Energy, 
To realms of immortality. 

Now gladly tune the harp of praise 
To sweeter sounds of heavenly lays; 
For voices grand that seem to die. 
Resume their music in the sky: 

From tones of earth-born sympathy 
To consummated harmony, — 
Let all the chords of friendship sound 
In one unending, joyful round. 



12 



The rays of human friendship dear 
Come dimly from a Solar Beam, 
Whose light is far more bright and clear 
Than earthly eyes can ever dream: 

The perfect incorporeal Love 
That joins blest souls eternally, 
Draws aspirations far above 
To seek Elysian charity. 

True friendship's everlasting song. 
Divine in origin and aim. 
Shall e'er delight th' angelic throng 
With incense of celestial flame; 

While holy virgins' ardor glows 
To breathe their fervent prayers above, 
Sweet music from their yearning flows 
To swell the symphony of Love. 



13 



The sympathies of sisterhood 
Began their course before the sun : 
They still shall seek the highest good 
When stars in dark oblivion run; 

From that Beginningless they came, 
To move throughout the range of time; 
To that eternal Heart they flame, — 
The Source and End of joy sublime. 



" Whosoever doeth the ivill of my Father in heaven^ 
the same is my brother and sister and mother.''^ — 
Matt, xii., 50. 



14 



MATRI SANCTAE MORITURAE. 

O holy mother! In thy soothing arms 
A weary child would find enduring rest, 
But cannot: e'en thy dearest, gentlest breast, — 
So full of kindest mercy, purest charms, 

And all-forgiving love that ever warms 
Thy heart with joy, because the transient guest 
Shall have a home among immortals blest, — 
To dust shall crumble from Time's fatal harms. 

In thee a wondrous power draws, to bind 
My life to thine; yet soon the hidden door 
To soul is closed between: I cannot find 

Shekinah's dwelling-place, until I soar 
To regions kindling vision in the blind. 
Where I can see thy charms for evermore. 



15 



AN ORPHAN'S RENUNCIATION. 

Mine eyes were red with weeping; 
My heart was weary and sore: 
Comfort I sought, but found none, — 
No, none in this world evermore. 

But I fled to the Infinite Father, 
And He welcomed my bitter despair; 
Myself I pour'd out, and confided 
My woes to th' All-Good and All-Fair: — 

"O God! give me peace, lest I perish; 
None else can my restlessness calm: 
O Thou Infinite, All-Satisfying! 
Soothe me with Thy perfect balm. 

Fatherless, motherless, sisterless, brotherless, 
Desolate is the world ever to me : 
Lord, in Thy mercy remember mine orphanage: 
Guardian, Protector, my soul trusts in Thee." 

Renuntio, renuntio delicias mundi ; 

Accipio, accipio laetitias coeli: 

Christi virgo, laete cano 

Sempiternum Praeclaro. 
i6 



A SONG OF THE DEAD. 

When mortals shall sleep in the last narrow bed 

Where the tomb closes o'er earthl}^ dreams, 

Then mortals shall know, — some with joy, Some 

with dread, — 
That this life is far more than it seems. 

When minglings of darkness and light all are o^tt. 
And the conflicts of hope and despair, — 
Then mortals shall look on eternity's shore 
To see their own destin}/ there. 

No more shall the shouts of the warrior be heard 
When the din of the conflict is past: 
Then silence shall reign o'er the grave of each word, 
And the triumph of silence shall last. 



17 



When the cycles of time shall have fled with dismay 
From the scenes of rebellion and woe, 
The records of action shall open that day 
To judge human deeds here below: 

The haughty and proud shall be conquer'd b}' dust, 
And the hateful consumed by their hate; 
The sensual shall burn in the rays of the just, 
And the slothful shall mourn over fate. 

The lowly and meek shall be crown'd on a throne, 
When the thorns are removed and the gall; 
The loving and upright shall ne'er be alone. 
In the friendship of Him who loves all; 

In concord and peace these will joyfull}^ sing: — 
How worthy the Lamb that was slain! 
All honor and glory and praise to our King 
Who freed us from sin and from pain. 



i8 



THE WAVE OF TIME. 

Roll on, thou rugged Wave of finite Time, 
From vanish'd fogs to endless shores at last: 
Bear lasting freight through all thy wreckful vast, 
From troughs abysmal to the height sublime. 

Let bells aboard their joy and sorrow chime, 
'Mid echoes of the martial trumpet-blast. 
The cheers and moans and curses of the Past, — 
Until their sound be hush'd in calmer clime. 

Bear all the riches of th' eternal Guild 

Away from shoals and whirlpools to the Shore, — 

Till righteous peace thy motions shall have still'd, 

To make serene thy rolling evermore: 
Then on thy calm. Eternity shall build 
The throne of Him whom countless worlds adore. 



19 



FORETHOUGHTS OF PARADISE. 

I. 
An operatic company 
Had actors wearing wings, 
Presenting human sentiments 
Of superhuman things: 

A star-illumed canopy 

With radiant beauty shone, 

And eight chromatic skies displayed 

The highest art then known; 

Upon a jewel'd ark of love 
Were golden cherubim; 
A song of future worlds was sung 
By white-robed seraphim: — 

O Paradise, El3'sium, 

Home of beatitudes! 

There joyous souls fore'er shall play 

In holy interludes. 



2. 

In winter's bleak and stormy days 
May come a wondrous change, — 
On nature's decoration-day, 
When common things are strange: 

'Mid perfect calm on barren earth 
A myriad gems appear. 
And every leafless tree is crown'd 
Colossal chandelier. — 

What wonderful presentiments 
For faithful human souls ! 
What scenes of future loveliness 
On Heaven's eternal knolls ! 

O Paradise, Elysium, 
Throne of the blessed Lord! 
There holiness fore'er shall reign, 
And God shall be adored. 



21 



3- 
We have not seen, we have not heard, 
The joys prepared above 
For righteous human souls made pure 
With God's eternal Love ; 

Each striver's world is but a storm 
That soon shall pass away: 
The sanctified shall feel the calm 
Of resurrection-day. 

O joyfulness of endless praise 
To Him whom splendors veil! 
Eternity shall bless the Lord 
Whom all immortals hail. 

O Paradise, Elysium, 
Souls' panoramic shore! 
Hosanna, hallelujah. 
In Zion fpr evermore! 



22 



AD SOROREM ANIMI MEL 

Thy form has oft appeared to me in dreams, — 
When slumber closed my weary eyelids tight, 
And soon my thoughts, with fair fantastic sight, 
Made images of what my soul esteems : 
With thee nearby, my charmed heart e'er deems 
Thy soul a star illuming gloomy night; 
Transfigured by the rays that make thee bright. 
Thou art my sunshine, while the darkness seems. 
Fair image, stay ! Or if thou takest flight 
To soar to Heaven's pellucid vital streams, 
Take me with thee to that transcendent height 
Where dwell most glorious chromatic gleams: 
There we will sing an endless song of Light, 
Rejoicing in the Sun's eternal beams. 



23 



SILENCE. 

Deep Silence speaks the highest human word,- 
Th' unutterable utterance of life; 
With fast vibrations that can not be heard, 
It eulogizes human pain and strife. 

That unexplored vibration-realm contains 
Great energies by us not heard nor seen: 
The spirits are at home where Silence reigns, 
And know the royal Will by senses keen. 

So genius tells the world of patient toil 
Too great for mortal bodies to endure; 
So Mozart sings, though buried in the soil. 
That Requiem, — of transient ills the cure; 

So mighty voices, when their sound has fled. 
Make musical the silence of the dead. 



24 



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